Avaline
by MiddleSchoolWriter
Summary: Just a short I thought I'd give a shot at. Dunno how it turned out, so lemme know.


When the bomb exploded, Aveline felt only pain. That was a new experience for her, because she could not feel any pain. It hurt, really bad. She had never really used the word _hurt_ before, except to describe how she felt after a loved one died, or if a friend got hurt. This was different, though. She had leapt at the bomb just before Moriarty had detonated it, hoping that the fact that she could not feel pain and that she could heal at an alarming rate would help the factors of survival for the two other men she loved. Ava realized that, now. She loved John and Sherlock. The loves were different, though. One was how you would care for a sibling, the other for a boyfriend or spouse. She just wasn't sure which love belonged to which person, yet. The pain had subsided, even nearly stopped, when she heard a small hum in her ears. A white light appeared above her lids, and a warm feeling engulfed her body. In a second, the light was gone and the warm was replace by a burning, raging pain in all her limbs. Someone was shouting her name, and someone was pressing repeatedly on her chest. A shadow passed over her lids, and she felt hands on her face, lips blowing air into her lungs. Her eyes flicked open, and she pushed John off her, coughing once or twice. She received a bonecrushing hung from behind, and the giver had his chin on her shoulder. There were black curls in her face, so she knew it was Sherlock giving the hug. She found that strange, he was not the type to give hugs at all. Maybe she had gotten hurt- at that thought she looked down, to see a concentrated John pressing on her leg, arm, and hip, right side, left side, left side, in that order. She could see scratches on each of the men's faces- Sherlock's head was still on her shoulder, arms still wrapped around her waist. Her back was to Sherlock, but he had pulled her into his lap. Ava's head was resting against Sherlock's, but she was too busy thinking to care about that- almost. She was deep in her mind, but she was aware of every movement Sherlock or herself made. Questions filled her mind, such as: _What was that? Why did I suddenly feel pain? Why am I still feeling pain? _Those questions were soon added by another, as the pain slowly faded, even though she was bleeding profusely: _Why did the pain disappear?! _Not that she enjoyed it, she doubted anyone did, but she wanted to know why it had suddenly come and then disappeared. "You okay?" Sherlock's voice in her ear woke her from her revere, and she nodded slowly. "Did I die?" This question was directed at John, and he looked up. "Well, I do think that your heart was temporarily non-functional, but it got itself restarted quickly." He said, and she nodded again. Sighing, she wrapped her arms around her torso, going back to her thoughts. Sherlock started rubbing little circles on her arm, and it sent little shivers down her spine.

Until Ava was playing with her loose and dangling hair at the steps of an ambulance, she hadn't realized that her red ribbon was missing. Gasping, she jumped up and ran towards the rubble of the building. People stared at her as she passed, but she paid them no heed. She stopped at the place she had woken up at- right next to the pool. Digging through the rubble, she started to find shreds of grey and brown fabric, but no red shreds of ribbon. Something fluttering in the wind caught her attention. Somehow, a tall spire of stone had survived. Her red ribbon was caught on top. Shaking her head, she started to climb. She was small enough to not knock it down, and get a good footing where others couldn't. A rock that had been lodged in a crevice came loose under her boot, and she slipped and nearly fell. Her other foot managed to get a hold on a small ledge, but it was on the downward curved side of the pillar, so she was holding on to a sharp piece of iron. Stretching, she managed to grab her ribbon that was caught on a tall metal pole, and climb back to a place that she could rest. Ava blinked, and realized everyone was staring at her, so she waved and grinned. Something moved in the corner of her vision, and her head flicked in that direction. There was a pale man standing in an alley, and he was staring at her. His features were strange- they were there, but not quite. You could see the outlines, but not the details. She blinked, and she was having an out of body experience. She watched from the pale man's point of view, as blood started pouring out of her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. People started screaming, but a man's shouts were able to be heard above all the others. "Ava!" He shouted, and it was Sherlock. Her head snapped from the pale man's to Sherlock's, and she smiled a cruel, mad smile. It made her sad, seeing herself looking like that. The red ribbon had fluttered from her hand, into the sky, and towards the man in the alley. Stepping out of the shadows so the other could see him, he extended an abnormally long few fingers and snatched the ribbon from the air. He tied it around his wrist and bowed, saying "I shall enjoy toying with your mind, my dear." In a quick flash of light, she was back in her own body, all blood gone, everyone still staring at her. She glanced down at her clenched fist, and her ribbon was gone. The man's words were bouncing around her head, making her shake. What was he going to do to her? Taking a deep breath, Ava leapt from her ledge, falling ten feet to the ground. She landed on her hands and knees, accidentally ripping off a bloody bandage on a piece of wall. A strange, static, white-noise-like sound filled her ears and mind. If the others could (she doubted it, but it was plausible), they were ignoring it. Strange, the white noise was feeding her music. She decided to sing along- for it was quite catchy, if a bit morbid. "Hush child, the darkness will rise from the deep. And carry you down into sleep, child, the darkness will rise from the deep. And carry you down into sleep."

"Stop it!" At almost breakneck speed, her head turned to face Anderson and Donovan. Donovan was the one who had spoken, but Ava just grinned. "Glad you like it." She smirked and headed towards Sherlock and John, continuing to hum along to the song, just to annoy Sally. The music was creepy, but that was just sort of the music she enjoyed. The music had stopped and the static was getting more insistent, but Ava just tried to ignore it. The static was getting louder with every step she took, and on her fourth step, she stopped. Shadows started to dart across and cover her vision, and she swayed. Sherlock took a step forward and said, "Ava?" She could barely hear his voice over the sound of the static, and she blinked. For the split second her eyes were closed, she saw the man again, and his face was gone and he had a gaping hole, shaped like a grinning mouth, with pieces of his flesh stretched over it. He was laughing, and Ava gasped and took a step back. The static stopped, and she looked around, blinking. If people had a strange look on their face before, it was nothing now. She started shaking, like a cold little dog. Most of the people staring at her turned back to their work, except John, Sherlock, and Lestrade. The two men joined Sherlock a few feet from Ava, and she wondered why they did nothing to stop her shaking. Greg leaned over to Sherlock and whispered something in his ear, and he nodded. "Ava, can you head to the station with Lestrade? I have some loose ends to tie up here with John." Sherlock said, and she nodded. "Alrighty then, lets go." Greg wrapped his arm around her shoulders and lead her to the car. Sitting in the back of his police car, she started to think. Who was the man? Was she the only one who could see him? Without realizing it, she asked "Did you see him?"

"See who?" Asked Lestrade.

"The man in the suit." She answered.

"Who?" Lestrade was confused now, shaking his head.

"There was a man in a suit. He took my ribbon." She said, and this time he turned around to look at her. "Are you kidding?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" He shook his head and faced forward.

"Well, when we get back to the station, tell me about him." Lestrade said, and that ended the conversation. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Ava spoke up. "I think he's hunting me. I don't know what to do. Do you have any ideas?" That comment shocked Lestrade, and he turned off of the street towards Scotland Yard, deciding to take her to the hospital. In about thirty seconds, Ava realized where she was heading. She made no comment, though, she just let Lestrade take her to their determined destination.

When they got there, she slowly got out, and immediately regretted it. The static was back, and the man was watching her. She couldn't see him, but she knew he was. Lestrade had gotten out and was standing by her frozen figure, staring at her, waiting for her to make a move. When she didn't, he gently took hold of her arm and tugged her towards the door. She didn't move, and he became more insistent. Suddenly, the man appeared right behind Lestrade, hands moving towards his shoulders. "No!" Ava shouted, and jerked Greg towards her. In a flash, the man was gone, and she was staring at thin air.


End file.
